After two women filed separate complaints against Uber drivers over the weekend, Madison Police Department is preparing a subpoena to the company to get more details on the drivers for its ongoing investigation.
The first incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning when a 23-year-old woman was picked up by an Uber driver near Langdon Street and Wisconsin Avenue. After several advances from the driver, the woman demanded that the driver allow her to exit the vehicle, and reported that she likely got out of the car near Gorham Street, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.
The second incident occurred Sunday morning around 2:30 a.m. A 26-year-old Madison woman was traveling from downtown Madison to the West side in an Uber vehicle when the driver attempted to kiss her and pursue “unwanted contact,” according to the MPD incident report.
The second woman chose to come forward after reading about the incident reported Saturday morning, MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.
“After reading news accounts, she decided it was best to contact police, which I encourage anyone to do if they feel like they have been a victim of a crime or harassment,” DeSpain said. “No matter where that takes place, they should contact police.”
These two incidents are the first reports that DeSpain has seen, he said.
Uber has refused to provide additional information about the drivers who are being investigated without further action from police, DeSpain said. Tuesday afternoon, MPD was working to draft a subpoena to send to Uber that would request information regarding the drivers in question, he said.
The same detective is assigned to both cases, though they are being investigated as independent incidents because there were two separate drivers involved, DeSpain said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Paul Soglin continued to voice opposition to rideshare companies in Madison, especially in the wake of these two incidents.
The City Council began working about a year ago on an ordinance that would put restrictions in place for rideshare companies, such as Uber and Lyft, Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, said. Former Ald. Scott Resnick originally proposed the ordinance, but Soglin became involved fairly quickly, he said.
“Initially, the [rideshare] companies were willing to be at the table with us to work through the issues, but the mayor’s approach basically drove them away,” Schmidt said.
The city ordinance governing rideshares passed in late March. It put in place restrictions to treat rideshare companies in a similar manner as taxis, requiring them to provide 24-hour service, with no surge pricing, Schmidt said.
A bill currently waiting for Gov. Scott Walker’s signature would preempt this local ordinance and put more lax legislation in place.
In the wake of the sexual harassment incidents, Soglin is asking Walker to veto the bill, which passed with some Democratic support.
Soglin, local Democrats ask Walker to veto Uber bill after two sexual assault reports
Local officials do not have the ability in any other way to change the course of this bill, Schmidt said.
“We can’t add any regulations to these companies; that’s specifically forbidden,” Schmidt said. “Our best angle at this point is probably to be very aggressive when cases do come up, make sure we’re getting information, make sure we’re getting compliance from the company in the investigations.”
